I never answer the phone the way my parents taught me to many years ago.
When I answer the phone, even if the caller knows my name and asks
Are you [Mr Boyce] ?
I always ask before answering them
Who's calling ?
If they don't reply I warn them that I will put the phone down.
I do this because the first thing a scammer wants is your identity and if you give him your name to go with the number he has rung, you have already given a stranger useful information. Sellers who make cold calls also like to get you answering questions and if you don't allow the conversation to begin unless they answer you, you have already broken their control of the conversation. If you don't know who or why the person has called when they answer, then you can ask more questions to make them justify the reason for them calling, and you can do this before you identify yourself.
Last week I was rung by the hospital who called to give me some medical results and I refused to identify myself until they had identified themselves first. They're the rules people who call me must obey if they want to speak to me. I may upset a few people but it does mean that 'cold callers' and scammers get nowhere with me.
